City of London | Local Development Framework

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

City of London Corporation

Whitefriars Conservation Area

Draft Character Summary and Management Strategy

Supplementary Planning Document

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Sturgeon lamp standard, Victoria Embankment

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

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Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Several of the maps in this series on conservation area character are based upon

Ordnance Survey maps © Crown copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance

Survey 100023243.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Introduction

Character summary

1. Location and context

Boundary

2. Designation history

3. Summary of character

4. Historical development

Early history

Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Nineteenth and twentieth centuries

5. Spatial analysis

Layout and plan form

Building plots

Building heights

Views and vistas

6. Character analysis

Victoria Embankment

Blackfriars Bridge

New Bridge Street & Bridewell Place

Tudor Street

Temple Avenue

Tallis Street

Carmelite Street

John Carpenter Street

7. Land uses and related activity

8. Architectural character

Architects, styles and influences

Building ages

9. Local details

Architectural sculpture

Public statuary

Signage and shopfronts

10. Building materials

11. Open spaces and trees

12. Public realm

13. Cultural associations

Management strategy

14. Planning policy

National policy

London-wide policy

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

City of London Corporation policy

Protected views

Sustainability and climate change

15. Environmental enhancement

16. Transport

17. Management of open spaces and trees

18. Archaeology

19. Enforcement

20. Condition of the conservation area

Further reading and references

Appendix

Designated heritage assets

Contacts

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Introduction

The present urban form and character of the City of London (the ‘City’) has evolved

over many centuries and reflects numerous influences and interventions: the

character and sense of place is hence unique to that area, contributing at the

same time to the wider character of London.

This character summary and management strategy provides an understanding of

the significance of the conservation area by identifying and analysing its principal

characteristics. It does not include specific detail about every building and feature

within the area, and any omission from the text should not be interpreted as an

indication of lesser significance. The character summary and management strategy

has been prepared in line with the Historic England document Understanding Place:

Conservation Area Designation, Appraisal and Management (2011).

The original character summary was adopted in 1996. This document comprises an

updated character summary and added management strategy. It was adopted as

a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) to the City of London Corporation’s

Local Plan on [DATE TBC]. It should be read in conjunction with the Local Plan and

other guidance, including Conservation Areas in the City of London, A General

Introduction to their Character (1994) which has more information on the history and

character of the City.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Character summary

1. Location and context

Whitefriars Conservation Area lies between the Temples and New Bridge Street,

fronting the Victoria Embankment. It lies entirely within the Ward of Farringdon

Without and covers an area of 6.4 hectares.

Boundary

Whitefriars’ most conspicuous boundary is the river Thames, drawn along the mid-line

of the river and including the entirety of Blackfriars Bridge. Immediately adjacent to

the bridge (just outside the CA boundary) is a queue of paired piers surviving from

the original railway bridge of 1864, with the second bridge beyond. This ensemble of

infrastructure is an arresting contrast to the more formal urban boundary with the

Temples (see below). The remainder of the eastern boundary is drawn down the

centre of New Bridge Street.

To the north the boundary is less regular, and meets the Fleet Street conservation

area at Bridewell Place. The remainder is drawn around big buildings whose

enlarged modern scale is a dramatic foil to the surviving historic parts of the

streetscape. The western boundary abuts the Inner Temple, within the Temples

conservation area. A leafy, collegiate place, the Temples form a distinct enclave

within the City and the Whitefriars boundary is enhanced by this distinctiveness. It is

an area where proposals for change need to be very carefully considered. There

are no proposals to amend the Conservation Area (CA) boundaries.

Conservation area boundary map

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

2. Designation history

10 December 1981 Part of the present Whitefriars Conservation Area

was designated in December 1981. The street

block circumscribed by New Bridge Street,

Bridewell Place and Tudor Street was designated

as an extension to the Fleet Street Conservation

Area in February 1990.

16 May 1991 Both areas, together with 19 New Bridge Street

(Blackfriars House) and 100 Victoria Embankment

(Unilever House), were designated as an extended

Whitefriars Conservation Area in May 1991.

28 November 2000 The Conservation Area was extended to include

Victoria Embankment, Blackfriars Bridge and

approximately half the width of the Thames to the

City of London boundary.

14 June 2007 The boundary was extended behind Northcliffe

House to follow the line of Magpie Alley and

Ashentree Court.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

3. Summary of character

The characteristics which contribute to the special interest of Whitefriars

Conservation Area can be summarised as follows:

 An array of consistently high-quality late Victorian and Edwardian

commercial and institutional buildings

 A planned street layout uncommon in the City, set against the more

evolutionary pattern of adjacent areas

 Highly varied historic land use, including Whitefriars friary precincts, domestic

tenements, industrial glass and gasworks and corporate headquarters

 Associations with newspaper production, most palpably with the Harmsworth

empire

 A unique sense of place created by the quiet grandeur of the Victoria

Embankment and buildings, openness of the Thames and proximity of the

Temples

 The set-piece created by the transport arteries of the Victoria Embankment,

New Bridge Street and Blackfriars Bridge

 Foreground to St Paul’s Cathedral and the wider City when viewed from the

South Bank and other key viewing locations

Embankment frontages

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4. Historical development

Early history

In early history, much of what is now the Whitefriars conservation area was in the

Thames, the land between Tallis street and the Victoria Embankment having

gradually been reclaimed from the medieval period onwards. A small number of

prehistoric archaeological finds suggest sporadic human activity in the area before

the foundation of the Roman city.

In the Roman period it lay outside the walled town (founded in the first century AD)

and was bordered to the north by Fleet Street, the route running west towards the

Strand out of the town’s western Ludgate. The area south of the street may have

been a favourable location for later Roman villas; the remains of a building with a

tessellated floor, likely a villa, have been found underneath St Bride’s church.

Otherwise evidence for Roman occupation is comparatively low, apart from

scattered finds of tile and pottery.

Occupation of the Roman town ebbed from the fifth century AD and a new

settlement, Lundenwic, was established to the west on the Strand. Recent

excavations within the Temples immediately west of the conservation area have

revealed evidence of glassmaking, trading and burials during the Saxon period. This

has been interpreted as an important enclave of activity on the eastern fringes of

Lundenwic, suggesting continued activity in the wider area during the Saxon period.

Excavations at St Bride’s church have revealed traces of a sixth-century building,

possibly an early church. Whitefriars’ location between the old and the new

settlements would suggest the area was in use, and it probably had a suburban

character with industrial aspects.

The conservation area’s name is derived from the Carmelite Friary founded in the

1240s, on land just south of Fleet Street donated by Sir Richard de Grey. Originally a

group of lay hermits living on the slopes of Mount Carmel, they were driven to

Cyprus, Sicily and England by the Saracen reconquest of the Holy Land. Initially

located in remote parts of Northumberland and Kent, they ceased to be hermits

after coming to London, becoming more visible in the community and known as

Whitefriars after the colour of the mantle worn over their brown robes. Their initial

precinct was extended by further southerly land acquisition and reclamation from

the Thames in the fourteenth century; a river wall dating from this period was

discovered underneath Tallis Street during archaeological work.

Today, the friary precincts lie under No. 65 Fleet Street to the north of the

conservation area (a fragment of vaulted undercroft can be seen in the basement)

and the two blocks immediately to the west across Bouverie Street. Their stairs down

to the river edge lay approximately where the junction of Tallis Street and Temple

Avenue now lies, the Victoria Embankment having reclaimed further land down to

the Thames. It was a typical group of friary buildings, including church, cloister and

chapter house; their library was said to be particularly notable. After the friary was

dissolved in November 1538, the land was sold to individuals who subdivided their

plots and developed tenements on them. The pattern and layout of these parcels

influenced the subsequent street arrangement, visible on eighteenth century maps.

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Bridewell Palace was built between 1515 and 1520 by Henry VIII, on the western

bank of the Fleet River in what is now the eastern part of the conservation area. It

was linked by a bridge over the Fleet to the Dominican Priory at Blackfriars. A

substantial complex of brick buildings, it was used as a place of reception for visiting

nobles. Holbein’s ‘Ambassadors’ was painted there in 1531. Two years later it was

given to the City by Edward VI for use as a workhouse and prison, a function it would

fulfil until 1855.

‘Agas’ map, c.1570

Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Later in the 16th century the inhabitants of the Whitefriars area claimed to be

exempt from the City’s jurisdiction, a claim permitted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1580

and confirmed by James I in a charter of 1608. From about this time the area was

known as ‘Alsatia’ (after the disputed continental territory of Alsace), a sanctuary for

debtors whose criminality and squalor was notorious. These unusual privileges were

repealed in 1697, but the notoriety lingered; what is now Hutton Street just north of

the conservation area was known for years as ‘Wilderness Street’.

Whitefriars had considerable associations with the theatre during the seventeenth

century. The Whitefriars theatre, of uncertain foundation date, operated from the

former friary refectory until 1614. Following this, the Salisbury Court theatre was built in

1629 by Richard Gunnell and William Blagove, hosting plays by Prince Charles’s men

and the Queen’s men until the formal suppression of theatre under the

Commonwealth in 1642. Plays continued to be performed illicitly in the theatre and

its interior was destroyed during a raid by soldiers in 1649. After the Restoration the

theatre was restored and reopened, but was destroyed in the Great Fire and

replaced by the Dorset Garden theatre, also known as the Duke’s theatre, in 1671

on the current site of 60 Victoria Embankment. Sir Christopher Wren is said to have

designed the new theatre, though this attribution is uncertain. It hosted

performances by the Duke’s Company, whose patron was James, Duke of York and

further James II. The theatre was demolished in the early eighteenth century.

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The Great Fire completely destroyed the district and, as with much of the City, it was

reconstructed to a similar street and plot configuration. The tenements on the former

friary precincts were rebuilt within a broadly similar arrangement of post-dissolution

land parcels as before. Bridewell was rebuilt to a different plan centred on two

courtyards. Archaeological excavation indicates that the waterfront revetments

were extensively rebuilt after the fire, in some cases with ship timbers.

Horwood’s map, 1799

By the C17 wharves and warehouses had replaced the gardens and orchards that

had previously run down to the waterfront; the Worshipful Company of Carpenters

leased a wharf in Whitefriars in the late 17th century. A notable new enterprise was

the New River Company, established to transport fresh water into London from

Hertfordshire through a conduit, the ‘New River’. The Company began operating

from Whitefriars in 1717, occupying various premises until 1820. The arrival of the New

River coincided with the concealment of the old Fleet, which bordered Whitefriars to

the east. Now known as a ‘ditch’ rather than a river (in reference to its heavily

polluted state), the Fleet was completely covered over in 1764 to form New Bridge

Street, the approach to the new Blackfriars Bridge, designed by Robert Mylne and

opened in 1769. This was a time of general upheaval: further to the east, the old

Ludgate and Roman and medieval city wall were demolished, removing the visible

distinction of Whitefriars as a place outside the original limits of the City. Aside from

this, the remainder of the conservation area retained its seventeenth century street

configuration.

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Trade card for Hopton, Hanson & Stafford Glass c.1759

Museum of London

Nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Between 1802 and 1809 James Lewis renewed the east range of Bridewell, from

which the gatehouse survives on New Bridge Street. The prison was closed in

1855, and the other buildings demolished in the 1860s. The establishment of the

City gasworks near Water Lane in 1814 brought heavier industry to the area. In

1834 James Powell purchased the long-established Whitefriars Glass Company,

which may have been the glazier’s workshop recorded on Temple Street in 1789.

The street was renamed Tudor Street in the 19th century and it was from here that

the Company operated until it moved to Wealdstone in 1923. The gasworks

closed in the 1870s.

Around this time the street layout underwent considerable rationalisation, which

produced a regularity that is very unusual within the City’s otherwise evolutionary

street network. This was made feasible by the construction of the Victoria

Embankment between 1864-70 and the widening and extension of routes such as

Tudor Street, removing the slums for which the area had become notorious. At

the same time Blackfriars Bridge was rebuilt, completed in 1869, to designs by

Joseph Cubitt and Queen Victoria Street joined it to the heart of the City in 1871.

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O/S map c.1880

The City Corporation was the main landowner in the area, and these changes

realised its plans for a salubrious grid of real estate, far removed from ‘Alsatia’;

attracted by the improved, gas-lit streets, businesses and institutions relocated

here. In the early 1880s the City of London Boys School was constructed on the

site of the former gasworks, with the City of London Girls School and the Guildhall

School of Music built to the north in the 1890s. Other institutions, Sion College and

the Metropolitan Asylums Board, occupied sites on the embankment facing the

river. The remainder of the grid was occupied by the buildings of the newspaper

industry, of which a number survive.

Fleet Street was synonymous with the newspaper industry. To the south, the newly

established grid layout of large plots made Whitefriars a good place for the

buildings of newspaper production: large-scale printing works and offices often

combined in one building. Examples of these survive throughout the conservation

area, such as the Argus Printing Company at the junction of Temple Avenue and

Tudor Street, or Northcliffe House where Whitefriars Street meets Tudor Street (on

the site of the former glassworks).

The area has particular associations with the founders of the Daily Mail, the

Harmsworth brothers, Alfred (later Viscount Northcliffe) and Harold (later Viscount

Rothermere), who owned and ran newspapers from several businesses in the

area. One of their first offices was at 24 Tudor Street in 1893; one of their last was

Northcliffe House, built next door in 1925-7. With the birth of the Daily Mail and

Daily Mirror and the maturity of the Harmsworth empire, the area was identified

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

as central to the history of the newspaper industry, while many of the buildings

reflect, in architectural terms, its emerging prestige.

Sweeping the corner of the Embankment and New Bridge Street, Unilever House

was built in the thirties as prestige headquarters for that firm, like J.P. Morgan’s

large building on John Carpenter Street of the late eighties. At this time the

newspaper industry was withdrawing from Whitefriars to the Docklands and

elsewhere; their large, inner-city sites were ideally suited for the large floorplates

required by professional firms following the deregulation of the markets in the

eighties. The schools and other institutions had departed from the area by the

end of the twentieth century. Whitefriars today has a quieter character than its

history might suggest.

More recent developments have generally respected the urban form and scale of

the area as it was established by the late 19th century.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

5. Spatial analysis

Layout and plan form

Whitefriars once had the intricate network of medieval streets, lanes and courts found

elsewhere in the City, but a programme of slum clearance, de-industrialisation and

land reclamation significantly changed its topography during the late Victorian period.

These changes created a formally conceived grid of streets uncommon in the context

of the City. A chief characteristic of Whitefriars is the high permeability and level of

visibility between streets created by the grid. Sequences of buildings follow a logical

progression, with the grandest frontages facing the river with more understated but

equally decorative frontages on the subsidiary streets. There are clearly legible routes

into, within and outside the area.

The flat topography created by reclamation from the Thames provides a local contrast

with the incline and curve of Fleet Street and the routes running south from it. The

openness created by the river and the Embankment is a rarity in the City, as are the

long views of City landmarks and riverfront possible from Blackfriars Bridge.

Building plots

Plots are generally large within the conservation area, with buildings such as Temple

Chambers and Telephone House occupying substantial sites. Some of these large

footprints were created by the newspaper headquarters that were built here during

the boom years of the industry. Carmelite House (frontage to Tallis Street) and

Northcliffe House are surviving examples of this sort of building.

The smaller buildings on Tudor Street reflect or occupy original plots, some with

particular associations with the press. The exception is the one substantial new

development in granite occupying part of two street blocks on Tudor Street. The

block bounded by Bridewell Place and New Bridge Street contain plots of a type

similar to those on Fleet Street, and in other districts of the City.

Building heights

The buildings are principally those of the late Victorian/Edwardian newspaper and

associated industry and have a regular scale, matching the regularity in the street

layout. Occasional smaller buildings such as 2-4 Tudor Street vary this with a more

intimate, human scale.

Robust blocks of architecturally varied, richly modelled and detailed Victorian

and Edwardian buildings attain a cohesive four to five storeys in height. Some

buildings have small turrets or other rooftop elements that add variety to the roofline.

This height is generally matched by more recent developments in the area, creating

a valuable consistency in scale.

The distinctive group of five to six storeys, mostly listed, buildings forming the

complete frontage to Victoria Embankment and New Bridge Street creates a

dignified civic river frontage and introduction to the City.

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The townscape effect is one of visual variety and exuberance, achieving both a

pleasing harmony and a strong commercial identity while retaining a human scale.

The conservation area is predominantly within the St Paul’s Heights policy area,

which since the 1930s has regulated the heights of buildings to safeguard views of St

Paul’s Cathedral.

Views and vistas

Whitefriars’ grid of streets enables linear views north/south/east/west along the

compass points between streets. Of particular note are views across the river and

west to the Temples. The river frontage forms a valuable and distinctive part of

the City skyline in views across the river, and from a significant distance along the

river to east and west. In particular, Blackfriars Bridge offers splendid prospects of

City landmarks, including St Paul’s Cathedral and the City waterfront.

The conservation area lies within the viewing corridors of two London View

Management Framework Protected Views and eight River Prospect Views. The

majority of the area is covered by the St Paul’s Heights policy area, and parts of it fall

within the Monument Views policy area. See the ‘Protected Views’ section of the

Management Strategy for more information.

The following illustrates the range of distant and local views which exist in the

Whitefriars Conservation Area. This list is not comprehensive, and the area provides

further opportunities to capture long, short and kinetic views.

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1. View of St Paul’s Cathedral from Blackfriars Bridge

2. View of the Victoria Embankment from Blackfriars Bridge

3. View towards New Bridge Street from Blackfriars Bridge

4. View of Blackfriars Bridge from the Embankment

5. View of Embankment frontages from opposite Hamilton House

6. View into the Temple gardens from opposite Hamilton House

7. View north up Temple Avenue from the Embankment

8. View north up Carmelite Street from the Embankment

9. View north up John Carpenter Street from the Embankment

10. View of Unilever House from the northern end of Blackfriars Bridge

11. View towards Blackfriars Bridge from No. 13 New Bridge Street

12. View west along Tudor Street from New Bridge Street

13. View north up Bridewell Place from Tudor Street

14. View east along Tudor Street from the boundary with the Temples

15. View south down Temple Avenue towards the Embankment

16. View south down Carmelite Street towards the Embankment

17. View south down John Carpenter Street towards the Embankment

18. View east along Tallis Street from Temple Chambers

19. View west along Tallis Street from John Carpenter Street

Additionally, noteworthy views of the conservation area are possible from

Waterloo Bridge and the South Bank.

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6. Character analysis

Victoria Embankment (W-E)

Hamilton House Former Sion College & City of London School

Victoria Embankment was completed in 1870 to a plan by Sir Joseph Bazalgette,

straightening the previously irregular waterfront with a broad new carriageway. A

few years later the grid of streets was developed immediately to the north. The

broadness of the Embankment is accented by the adjacent Thames, together

creating a valuable sense of openness rare in the City. The narrow, more urban

views north along Temple Avenue, Carmelite Street and John Carpenter Street

offer juxtaposition with this open quality. Trees are planted towards the western

part, providing a welcome green enclave with the nearby Temple gardens.

Along the waterfront there are sculptural features of interest: regularly spaced

iron sturgeon lampstands ornamented with marine motifs and lions head mooring

rings on the river wall.

The ornate, richly detailed, late 19th century buildings facing the Thames give the

Embankment a sense of quiet grandeur. Hamilton House (by Sir William Emerson)

has a stately Portland stone frontage in a Renaissance style with a contrasting

band of sandstone at the upper levels. This is set back from the street behind a

row of decorated stone piers and railings enclosing a small garden. Opposite, the

Baroque Embankment elevation of Telephone House (No. 40, see Temple

Avenue) is similarly recessed behind a garden and railings, and both buildings

have prominent gables at roof level. The shared materials but subtle stylistic

variations give depth to the street scene.

Audit House (No. 58) was formerly the Employment Appeal Tribunal. It has a more

understated red brick elevation with stone dressings and projecting end bays

with classical details. The varying use of Portland stone and red brick as the

dominant building materials are an important hallmark of the conservation area.

At the time of writing, the building is undergoing redevelopment behind the

retained Embankment façade. Carmelite House (No. 50) is a less successful

recent development that would have profited from further depth and modelling

to its elevations. The boldly contemporary approach is too abrupt a statement

within the sequence of generously detailed historic frontages.

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No. 9 Carmelite Street housed the former Thames Conservancy Offices. The red

brick with Gothic details complement the neighbouring former Sion College (No.

56, by Sir Arthur Blomfield), which has an elaborately detailed Gothic revival

frontage. Both buildings provide a welcome contrast with the simplicity of

Carmelite House. Of red brick with stone detailing, No. 56 has a profusion of oriel

windows, buttresses, turrets, pinnacles and window tracery that create a wealth

of visual interest and evoke the building’s former use as an ecclesiastical college.

A later brick screen punctuated with slim traceried openings creates regularity at

street level. The collegiate effect is complemented by the institutional

architecture of the former City of London School (No. 60). Built in 1880-82 to

designs by Davis & Emmanuel, it has an elaborate Portland stone frontage with

pink granite columns, classical detailing and prominent sculpture of famous

figures and disciplines. It has a striking, steeply pitched roof with octagonal

lantern and corner turrets, and completes the run of buildings in an appropriately

ornate manner.

After the Temples, the Victoria Embankment frontages have an important role as

an introduction to the City when approached along the Thames from the west.

This area will be significantly altered by the forthcoming Thames Tideway Tunnel

works, which propose the construction of a new pier and public space alongside

the Embankment. Furthermore, the proposed Cycle Superhighway will have a

visual impact on the Blackfriars Bridge and New Bridge Street (below).

Retained façade of Audit House Blackfriars Bridge lamp standard

Blackfriars Bridge was erected in 1869 to designs by James Cubitt, replacing the

previous bridge by Robert Mylne. It spans the Thames with five shallow, segmental

arches of cast iron springing from granite abutments. These are capped with

squat columns supporting pedestrian niches linked by a decorative iron

balustrade. Along the centre run slender original lamp standards, valuable

survivals of their kind. The bridge’s restrained gothic detailing complements the

adjacent 19th century frontages on the Embankment, with which it forms a set-

piece commemorating the era of Victorian public improvement works. The

bridge is named from the Blackfriars friary that was located on the eastern bank

of the river Fleet.

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Blackfriars Bridge

Moored opposite Hamilton House is HMS President, a former Royal Navy sloop

built in 1917 by Lobnitz & Co Ltd for convoy escort duty. Located at this mooring

on the Victoria Embankment since 1922, she was used as a Royal Navy Reserve

training ship until 1989. She was originally named HMS Saxifrage, a genus of plants

that includes London Pride, underlining her long connection with the city. HMS

President is included on the National Register of Historic Vessels administered by

National Historic Ships UK. Facing the dignified frontages of Hamilton and

Telephone House, the boat further augments the historicity of this part of the

conservation area.

New Bridge Street (S-N) & Bridewell Place

14 &19 New Bridge Street

Laid out in 1764, New Bridge Street was created as an approach to the first

Blackfriars Bridge (designed by Robert Mylne) and covered over the Fleet River,

the line of which it follows. The bridge approach has been intensively developed:

originally a small square named Chatham Place, it was reconstructed after the

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building of the current bridge, altered for the creation of Queen Victoria Street

and again to its present form in 1963 for the Blackfriars Underpass. A statue of

Queen Victoria commemorates the 19th century work, while on the eastern side

of New Bridge Street a K2 telephone kiosk and temperance drinking fountain are

street furniture of further interest. The buildings on the street are generally larger

than those on the Embankment, and are set back from the street behind iron

railings.

Addressing the road, the bridge and the river is Unilever House, built in 1930-2 to

designs by J. Lomax Simpson with Burnet, Tait & Partners. The building is a grand

classical composition in Portland stone whose curve acts as a monumental pivot

between New Bridge Street and the Embankment. A row of giant Ionic columns

gives the façade rhythm and verticality, and the scale of the building is offset by

its modelling and detailing, particularly to the recessed upper storeys. Flanking

equestrian sculpture adds further interest. It has been called the largest of the

‘prestige headquarters’ built for large City firms between the wars. Along with the

Faraday Building nearby, this ‘lofty edifice’ instigated the development of the St

Paul’s Heights policy, designed to control development around the Cathedral to

preserve views of its setting.

No. 19 (formerly Blackfriars House, built 1913-17 and now a hotel) has a similarly

large scale but with a subtler, stripped classical treatment executed in white

glazed faience, an unusual treatment in the City. Well-modelled facades

alleviate its large scale. The building is recessed behind railings and ironwork

arches that add interest to the street scene, complemented by decorative iron

balconies at first floor. No. 16-18 was built in 1903-5 as the headquarters of the

London Missionary Society (commemorated by a plaque). Here, the large scale

of the previous buildings is repeated in a stone Baroque composition, with

detailing echoing that of Telephone House (see above).

No. 15 begins a sequence of more compact buildings along the street whose

lower scale is an effective prelude to the larger buildings previously described.

The group is united by shared motifs and verticality of pilasters. No. 15 has an

understated stone frontage with 18th century detailing and ornamental

balconies at first floor level, its subtlety providing a favourable contrast with the

larger buildings. No. 14 is the former gatehouse of Bridewell Hospital (James Lewis,

1802-8), with a fine stone classical frontage behind iron railings. No. 13 is

constructed in brick with stucco dressings in an eclectic style, with French and

Classical motifs reminiscent of the Victorian commercial architecture of Ludgate

Circus. Its frontage turns onto Bridewell Place, a dog-leg named after the former

palace and hospital on this site. No. 9 has brown brick upper storeys over an

open stone colonnade, traditional materials sympathetic to the context of the

conservation area, though its upper storeys are of an incongruous height. This

elevation to Bridewell Place forms the rear setting of the buildings on New Bridge

Street and could be enhanced.

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Tudor Street

Tudor Street, looking east towards New Bridge Street

Tudor Street was formed by extending King Tudor Street (established by the 17th

century) westwards from New Bridge Street towards the Inner Temple in the 19th

century. It forms the northern edge of the street grid laid out by the City of

London Corporation in the 1880s. There is an important contrast between the

commercial bustle of New Bridge Street at the eastern end and the relative

serenity of the Temples, glimpsed through an archway at its western end.

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North side

No. 2-3 Northcliffe House No. 24

After the flank elevations of No. 16-18 and No. 19 New Bridge Street, No. 2-4 is the

former Institute of Journalists, constructed between 1902-4 in a Queen Anne style.

It has a pleasing modesty that is derived from its low scale, traditional roof form

and simple Classical details. Other surviving newspaper buildings in the

conservation area share the red brick and stone idiom. On a similarly modest

scale, No. 24 is an early 19th century detached house with later shops, the pale

stucco and crisp detailing of which compare well with surrounding buildings of

different styles. It has a domestic character uncommon in the conservation area,

an important survival of the period before the streets were laid out in their current

form.

Northcliffe House (No. 26) is the former combined offices and printing workshops

of Associated Newspapers, a function indicated by large expanses of glazing on

the elevations (to allow the maximum amount of light for typesetting and

compositing). The building occupies the former site of the Whitefriars Glassworks.

Steel framed and clad in stone, it is an important example of the design solutions

achieved in housing the different elements of newspaper production on the

same site (for example, it was the first British newspaper printing office to have

reel fed from beneath the printing presses). It was built in 1925-5 to designs by Ellis

and Clarke, and has an understated Classical/neo-Egyptian character found

elsewhere at the former Daily Telegraph building on Fleet Street. The elevations to

Tudor Street and Whitefriars Street are finely detailed and modelled, while the

octagonal turret adds interest to the roofline.

No. 28 is the former White Swan Tavern, which shares the height and Classical

motifs of Northcliffe House but expresses them differently. The street elevation is of

brick with slender stone pilasters and other ornaments, a mixture echoed at No.

2-4 and characteristic of the conservation area. At the junction of Tudor Street

and Bouverie Street (east side) is a contemporary stone and glass building that

presents a long brick and stone elevation to Bouverie Street. It has recessed

upper storeys that are sympathetic to the scale of the conservation area.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

South side

No. 25 Gateway to the Temples

With its neighbour No. 3-5, No. 15-17 has a large granite elevation with irregular

window openings and classical accents cast in a modern style. The building’s

forceful bulk clashes with its surroundings to some extent, but its bold post-

modernity has historic value. No. 21 is a modern development that gives a

contemporary treatment to traditional materials. Circular stone columns divide

the bays, which contain projecting rectangular windows clad in orange tiles and

linked by thin metal bars. The façade has a similar rhythm to that of Northcliffe

House opposite but is less forceful, with a weightless quality imparted by its

materials. The block bounded by Tudor Street, Temple Avenue, Tallis Street and

Carmelite Street is part of this development, which skilfully incorporated the

frontages of many historic buildings.

No. 25 is the former premises of the Argus Printing Company. Of stone and red

brick with Ruabon terracotta dressings, it is a muscular building enhanced by the

wealth of detail on both facades. The ground floor has keystones featuring

grotesque heads, while the corner holds a carving of the company’s insignia.

Higher up, bands of delicate terracotta detail are woven underneath stone

mullion and transom windows. This assemblage of materials, motifs and upper

level detailing creates a highly individual character. Loading bays at the end of

the Temple Avenue elevation give an indication of the original design as printing

works. It forms a group with Northcliffe House and the former White Horse Tavern

enhancing the conservation area.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Temple Avenue

Temple Chambers (detail) Telephone House (detail)

Part of the grid of streets laid out by the City Corporation in the 1880s, Temple

Avenue is one of three streets that connect Tudor Street with the Victoria

Embankment (the others are Carmelite Street and John Carpenter Street). Views

south down these streets offer prospects of the river framed by the ornate

architecture of the river frontages, while views north from the river into the urban

realm are an effective foil to the openness of the Embankment and Thames. Both

sets of views are key elements of the character of the conservation area.

East side

Temple House (No. 6) has a red brick and stone façade with Classical detailing

and projecting oriel windows, some of which contain stained glass. These give a

strong sense of rhythm to both frontages (the other on Tallis Street), further

enhanced by the arched openings at ground floor. A small clock tower crowned

with a pediment adds interest at roof level, while at ground level iron railings to

the street create a neatness shared by nearby buildings.

The main frontage of Telephone House (No. 2-4) is a monumental contrast with

the previous building. The stately twenty-one bay elevation is designed in a

Baroque style and executed in stone with rich modelling and ornamentation,

particularly at the upper levels. It was built as the London headquarters of the

National Telephone Company, a wealthy organisation that amalgamated early

provincial telephone networks into a national system. These origins remain

evident in the first floor sculptures of cherubs grasping early telephone handsets.

West side

Practically all of the west side of Temple Avenue is occupied by Temple

Chambers (No. 3-7), a range of purpose-built legal chambers completed in 1887.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

The stone frontage has understated Jacobean and Classical accents and

contains many projecting and recessed sections providing rhythm to the long

frontage. The central bay has a carved stone doorcase with sculpture, detailing

and lettering. The whole elevation is recessed from the street behind an intact run

of decorative iron railings. Their traditional roof forms and chimney stacks survive,

which are instrumental in providing a sympathetic setting to the neighbouring

Inner Temple. With the other buildings on Temple Avenue the overall effect is one

of orderly sophistication.

Tallis Street

Former Guildhall School of Music No. 2 & Carmelite House

Tallis Street is named after the 16th century English composer, Thomas Tallis,

whose name is among those inscribed on the former Guildhall School of Music

(No.1). It forms an intersection between the three north-south streets, and partially

marks the line of the old waterfront before its extension to form the Embankment.

The former Guildhall School of Music was constructed between 1885-7 to a Neo-

classical design by Sir Horace Jones, Surveyor to the City of London, who was

responsible for notable City buildings such as Tower Bridge and Leadenhall

Market. The building has predominantly classical details executed in stone, with

inscriptions located between decorated terracotta panels and a row of elliptical

windows on the upper levels. The return elevations to Carmelite Street and John

Carpenter Street are slightly plainer, except for a northern extension of 1897-8

that is taller and more ornamented with the names of composers inscribed upon

it.

Opposite on Tallis Street, Tallis House (No. 2, by Royce, Hurley and Stewart)

provides a modern interpretation of themes within in the conservation area, with

the red brick, banded stone and projecting oriel windows recalling Temple House

(see above). Though these contextual aspects of the design are praiseworthy,

the building ultimately falls short of the refinement characteristic of other

buildings in the conservation area.

Whitefriars House (No. 6) was formerly the premises of the National Press Agency.

Of red brick detailed with café-au-lait terracotta, it has a well-proportioned

mixture of bow windows, understated classical elements and applied arcading.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

The corner bay successfully addresses the junction of Tallis Street and Carmelite

Street with a terracotta doorcase, oriel window and archway.

Continuing the newspaper derivation, Carmelite House (Tallis Street and

Carmelite Street elevations) was designed by H.O. Ellis for Lord Northcliffe’s

Associated Newspapers in a monumental neo-Tudor style. Built between 1897-9, it

is the oldest survivor of the combined newspaper factories and offices that once

proliferated in the area. Surviving iron cranes and the large expanses of glazing

attest to this former function (and make an instructive comparison with Northcliffe

House on Tudor Street). The rich modelling and alternating bands of stonework

and brickwork echo themes elsewhere in the conservation area. As an expression

of corporate power, the building complements Telephone House (see above),

which it adjoins.

Carmelite Street

North-east side Former Whitefriars Fire Station

The elevations on Carmelite Street are predominantly the flanks of other buildings

described on Tudor Street, Tallis Street and the Victoria Embankment. They are a

blend of stonework, brick and stone/terracotta dressings typical of the

conservation area. The street is named from the Carmelite Friary (Whitefriars) that

existed immediately to the north of the conservation area.

On the west side, the façade of the former Wheatsheaf House (formerly No. 4)

survives incorporated into a later development. A former warehouse, it has red

brick piers with stone detailing carried on an arcade of six columns with yellow

brick detailing. A small Italianate turret adds interest at roof level.

No. 7 was the Whitefriars Fire Station, formerly the main fire station of the City

division. Constructed between 1896-7 to designs by the L.C.C Architects’

Department, it has simple neo-Tudor detailing and a prominent gable that sits

well alongside the former Sion College (see above). Three openings capped by

Tudor arches at ground level, now blocked, indicate the exit and entry points for

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

horse-drawn fire engines. It has a lacklustre modern elevation to John Carpenter

Street.

John Carpenter Street

John Carpenter was a Town Clerk of the City of London who in the 15th century

left a bequest enabling the foundation of the City of London School, which

occupied a site on the Embankment at the end of the street. Most of the street

contains the flank elevations of buildings described above. The southern end of

the street is pedestrianised, an attractive space framed by planting, benches,

sculpture and the flank elevations of the former City of London School and

former Sion College.

John Carpenter Street from the Embankment

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

7. Land uses and related activity

The p r ese n t uses a r e principally office, with dispersed secondary

catering,

hotel

and retail uses. The diversity of activity and

associated

vitality has been

diluted by the relocation of the

schools

and the recent dispersal of the press,

printing

and

publishing

industries. There are some buildings in residential use, but

these account for a low proportion overall.

8. Architectural character

Architects, styles and influences

Whitefriars’ comprehensive redevelopment in the latter decades of the 19th century

created an overall harmony in architectural character, marked by subtle gradations

in style, scale and materials. As intended, it attracted relatively prestigious businesses

and institutions with the resources for opulent buildings, transforming this riverfront

area from a place of industry to one of architectural expression. The City

Corporation had some stylistic influence: the former Thames Conservancy Offices

(No. 9 Carmelite Street with an Embankment frontage) are said to have been

constructed in a Gothic style to match neighbouring Sion College at the

Corporation’s behest.

Former Thames Conservancy Offices (later) & former Sion College (earlier)

Generally, the calibre of architects working in Whitefriars was high. Sir Horace Jones

was responsible for many City buildings that are now acclaimed landmarks (such as

Tower Bridge), and the Guildhall School of Music was one of his last works. Sir Arthur

Blomfield (Sion College) was an important and prolific exponent of the Gothic

revival, while Sir William Emerson (Hamilton House) designed a number of high-profile

buildings in India, then part of the British Empire. Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the engineer

responsible for the Victoria Embankment, is well known for designing London’s sewer

system.

Other architects were locally prolific: James Lewis (No. 14 New Bridge Street) was

surveyor to Christ’s and Bethlem Hospitals in addition to Bridewell, while Ellis and

Clarke (Northcliffe House) worked with Sir Owen Williams on the Daily Express building

in Fleet Street. John Whichcord Junior (Temple Chambers) built numerous offices in

the City, including the former National Safe Deposit at No. 1 Queen Victoria Street

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

(now the City of London Magistrates’ Court). Thomas Tait designed Unilever House

with James Lomax-Simpson, and was partly responsible for the Daily Telegraph

building on Fleet Street.

Blackfriars Bridge was designed by Joseph Cubitt and the original neighbouring

railway bridge of 1862-4 (of which only the piers remain) was also his design. Beyond,

the second Blackfriars Railway Bridge of 1886 (originally St Paul’s Railway Bridge) was

Whitefriars exhibits the eclectic variety and bombast typical of late

Victorian/Edwardian commercial architecture. Corporate exuberance can be seen

at Telephone House (Baroque), Unilever House (Classical), Northcliffe House

(Classical/neo-Egyptian) and Carmelite House (Tallis Street elevation, neo-Tudor).

While these buildings are largely of one style, others are more eclectic, mingling

Classical, Tudor, Queen Anne or Jacobean devices, such as at No. 25 Tudor Street,

neighbouring No. 6 Temple Avenue or No. 13 Bridewell Place. The former City of

London School combines varying motifs within an overarching Northern Renaissance

style.

Temple Chambers, Temple Avenue

A more understated architecture is offered by Temple Chambers, an effective

segue into the Temples across the border of the conservation area. Further variety is

found in the Georgian domesticity of No. 24 Tudor Street and the 20th century

faience cladding of No. 19 New Bridge Street. Blackfriars Bridge is an example of

engineering functionality enlivened with Gothic detailing that complements that at

Sion College.

While the range of styles and motifs listed above appears broad, the buildings’ close

date range, small material palette and quality of execution results in an overall

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

consistency of scale and appearance that is key to the conservation area’s

character.

Building ages

The buildings in Whitefriars all date from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Earliest

among them are the former Bridewell Gatehouse (No. 14 New Bridge Street) and

No. 24 Tudor Street, both dating from the early 19th century. One of the catalysts for

Whitefriars’ redevelopment was the completion of the Victoria Embankment in 1870,

following which the grid of streets and buildings were laid out, commencing with the

City of London School in 1880-82. Buildings on the southern end of New Bridge Street

are either early 20th century or interwar. There are some postwar and early 21st

century buildings, but these account for a low proportion overall. More recent

developments have regularly incorporated the retained facades of earlier buildings.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

9. Local details

Architectural sculpture

Cherubs with telephone handsets, Telephone House

Architectural sculpture is regularly to be found in Whitefriars. Predominantly

executed in carved stone, it was a suitable method of enrichment that reflected the

prominence of institutions and businesses relocating to the area.

In many cases architectural sculpture provides an indication of the building’s original

use or occupant. Telephone House displays a number of stone cherubs holding old-

fashioned telephone receivers, while No. 25 Tudor Street bears the crest of the Argus

Printing Company, who commissioned the building. The former City of London

School has statues of John Milton, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More and

Francis Bacon at high level, flanked by personifications of disciplines such as Classics,

Geometry, and Mechanics.

Sculptures at Unilever House were executed by two high-profile contemporary

sculptors: Sir William Reid Dick and Gilbert Ledward. The former was responsible for

two sculptures of colossal shire horses restrained by female figures that flank the

building. The latter contributed reliefs of mermaid and merman on the keystones

above the doors.

Shire horses, Unilever House

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

The piers of Blackfriars Bridge are enriched with sculptures of water birds by John

Birnie Philip. On the seaward side, the carvings depict marine life and seabirds, while

on the landward or western side the piers have freshwater birds, reflecting the tidal

watershed at this location on the river.

The iron lampstands on the Embankment were designed by George Vuillamy and

decorated with entwined pairs of dolphins. The Metropolitan Board of Works took

the unusual (for the time) step of publicly consulting on a number of designs before

selecting this final model. The lions head mooring rings were designed by Timothy

Butler.

Public statuary

A statue of Queen Victoria (1896 by CB Birch) marks the northern approach to

Blackfriars Bridge and serves to commemorate the Embankment, Blackfriars Bridge

and Holborn Viaduct, all of which were completed under her reign.

Nearby on New Bridge Street is a Temperance drinking fountain, originally located at

Bank Junction outside the Royal Exchange, where it was erected in 1861. It carries

bronze sculptures of dolphins at the base and a figure of Temperance above.

At the end of John Carpenter Street is a bronze statue of a businessman hailing a

taxi, cast in 1983 by J. Seward Johnson Jr.

Signage and shopfronts

Whitefriars contains few instances of shopfronts and signage because the character

of the area is not predominantly retail-led. No. 13 New Bridge Street has an oversized

modern box fascia that clashes with the understated architectural detailing above.

No. 24 Tudor Street has unsympathetic modern shopfronts, while No. 28 has more

low-key signage.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

10. Building materials

Temple House, Carmelite House and Telephone House (details)

Buildings are constructed in a range of traditional materials - principally Portland and

Bath stones, brick and terracotta - used individually, but more frequently in

combination. Much of Whitefriars’ character is down to the interplay of red

brickwork and pale stonework, and the subtle variations in the way these materials

are combined.

Some buildings (Temple Chambers, Guildhall School of Music) have wholly stone

frontages; others (Sion College, Former Argus Printing Company) depend chiefly on

the use of brick. In between are a number of buildings that freely mingle these

materials, often in bands, using them either for detailing or for the main body of a

façade.

Terracotta (either café-au-lait or bright red) is used to good effect, while long

expanses of iron railings, painted black, often with varying finials, give many of the

streets a quiet dignity.

Traditional timber windows survive on many buildings in the conservation area. They

preserve and enhance the character of the conservation area and should be

retained or incorporated into new buildings wherever possible.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

11. Open spaces and trees

Whitefriars’ southern parts offer an alternative to the intricately composed urban

grain found throughout much of the City. The right-angle of Blackfriars Bridge and

the Embankment is a place for pedestrians to enjoy open land, river and sky in a

manner rare elsewhere.

This is enhanced by a regular building line set back from these areas, leaving the

bridge approach particularly clear. The planted space here is important in

maintaining the open quality of this part of the conservation area and softening the

impact of the road network.

Trees, ornate frontages and the hubbub of New Bridge Street girdle this openness.

The relationship between these areas and the nearby Temple Gardens is also

significant, the combination of the two forming a unique ensemble of open spaces.

A more recent open space can be found at the newly pedestrianised end of John

Carpenter Street. Silver birch trees, planting, benches and sculpture moderate the

urbanity of the environment.

12. Public realm

The footways of the conservation area are predominantly laid in York stone edged

with granite kerbs. The carriageways are laid in asphalt. City Corporation bollards

are present on numerous streets. There is a small amount of historic granite setts at

the southern tip of John Carpenter Street.

Completed and planned public realm environmental enhancement projects are

identified in the Management Strategy below.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

13. Cultural associations

Whitefriars’ 17th century identity as ‘Alsatia’, a debtors’ sanctuary sunk in criminality

and squalor, was celebrated in contemporary works such as Thomas Shadwell’s

Squire of Alsatia (1688) and in a later range of folk songs and ballads.

Simultaneously, the area was closely associated with Elizabethan and Stuart theatre,

with three theatres operating for over a century.

Perhaps the area’s strongest association is with newspapers, specifically their

production. There were many combined printing presses and warehouses built in the

area towards the end of the 19th century. The Harmsworth brothers, founders of

Associated Newspapers, had a particularly strong link to the area with several offices

in various locations (e.g. 24 Tudor Street, Northcliffe House, Carmelite House).

Another significant activity in the area was glassworking, notably at the Whitefriars

Glassworks, established by the early 18th century on the corner of the present Tudor

Street and Whitefriars Street. The works was bought by James Powell in 1834 as an

occupation for his three sons; under the Powells, the company rose in stature to

become an important English glassmaker. It was noted for the quality of its products

and the breadth of its work, which ranged from the manufacture of tableware to

the production of highly specialised lenses, thermometers and other equipment

serving other professions in London. The company transferred its operations to

Wealdstone in 1923.

The legal profession may be sensed in Whitefriars, an association derived from its

proximity to the Inner and Middle Temples.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Management strategy

The management strategy sets out the position regarding the wider policies and

guidance concerning the conservation and enhancement of Whitefriars

Conservation Area. Future development schemes and enhancement projects will

need to take account of these policies in relation to the special architectural and

historic interest of the conservation area, as detailed in the above character

summary.

Documents produced by the Corporation are available on the website

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk .

14. Planning policy

National policy

The Civic Amenities Act 1967 gave local authorities the power to designate

conservation areas, and these powers are now contained in the Planning (Listed

Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The Act (section 69 (1) (a)) defines a

conservation area as ‘…an area of special architectural or historic interest, the

character and appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’. Section

71 (1) of the Act requires the local planning authority to "…formulate and publish

proposals for the preservation and enhancement of any parts of their area which

are Conservation Areas." See www.legislation.gov.uk.

The Government’s planning policies are contained within the National Planning

Policy Framework (NPPF), which came into force on 27 March 2012. Historic

environment policies are detailed in chapter 12 which sets out the requirements for

local authorities and applicants in relation to the conservation of heritage assets,

including conservation areas. See www.communities.gov.uk. The Department for

Communities and Local Government have published web-based Planning Practice

Guidance for the NPPF, of which the section ‘Conserving and enhancing the historic

environment’ is particularly relevant. See

http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/.

NPPF historic environment policies are supported by Historic Environment Good

Practice Advice notes 1-3, produced by Historic England. See

https://www.historicengland.org.uk/.

London-wide policy

The London Plan (2015) forms part of the statutory development plan for the City of

London and needs to be taken into account when considering development within

the Conservation Area. Key policies to consider are: policies 7.8 Heritage assets and

archaeology and 7.9 Heritage-led regeneration. See

www.london.gov.uk/thelondonplan.

City of London Corporation policy

Planning policy for the City of London is contained within the Local Plan, which was

adopted in January 2015. The Local Plan includes policies for Development

Management, which will be taken into account when deciding applications for

planning permission. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk. Development proposals within

the Whitefriars Conservation Area have to be considered in the context of the

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

policies of the Local Plan. Within this framework, particular account will need to be

taken of Core Strategic Policies CS10 ‘Design’; CS12 ‘Historic Environment’; CS13

‘Protected Views’; CS 18 Flood Risk; CS19 ‘Open Spaces and Recreation’; CS20

‘Retailing’; and CS21 ‘Housing’.

Other key policies in the Local Plan are: DM12.1 ‘Managing change affecting all

heritage assets and spaces’; DM12.2 ‘Development in conservation areas’, DM12.3

‘Listed Buildings’, DM12.4 ‘Ancient monuments and archaeology’ and DM10.5

‘Shopfronts’.

Protected views

The London Plan and the City’s Local Plan seek to protect strategic views which are

defined within the London Plan’s SPG – the London View Management Framework

(LVMF). In Whitefriars Conservation Area, the following Protected Vistas need to be

considered:

 8A.1 - Westminster Pier to St Paul’s Cathedral (covering the Northern end of

Blackfriars Bridge and its approach). The viewing corridor development

threshold plane rises from 37.1m AOD to 42.7m AOD from SW to NE across the

south east section of the Conservation Area.

 9A.1 - King Henry VIII’s Mound, Richmond, to St Paul’s Cathedral (The viewing

corridor covers Blackfriars Bridge approach, Unilever House and the former

City of London School; the viewing corridor and wider setting consultation

area includes Blackfriars Bridge, the Embankment frontages and the southern

half of New Bridge Street). The viewing corridor and consultation threshold

plane rises from 51.6m AOD to 51.8m AOD from SW to NE across the

Conservation Area.

 Views from Blackfriars Bridge offers important prospects of London in either

direction. The view west towards Westminster is identified as a ‘river prospect’

(14A) within the London View Management Framework. Additionally, the

bridge and Embankment frontages form part of river prospects 11A, 12A, 13A,

13B, 15B, 16B and 17B.

Development proposals in Wider Setting Consultation Areas must be designed or

sited so that they preserve or enhance the viewer’s ability to recognise and

appreciate the Strategically Important Landmark, in this case St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Further detail can be found in the LVMF SPG - see www.london.gov.uk.

This character summary identifies a number of distant and local views that

contribute to the character of the conservation area (see section 5. Spatial analysis:

views and vistas). Proposals will be assessed for their potential effect on these and

other views of significant individual buildings, townscapes or skylines.

Whitefriars is included within the St Paul’s Heights Policy Area (entire CA except for

26-28 Tudor Street, NW corner of 25 Tudor Street and N tip of Temple Chambers). The

Victoria Embankment, associated frontages and Blackfriars Bridge are included in

the Monument Views Policy area (Monument View Four). More information on these

policy areas can be found in the City’s Protected Views SPD.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Sustainability and climate change

The Corporation is committed to being at the forefront of action in response to

climate change and other sustainability challenges that face high density urban

environments. In particular, areas will need to be resilient to warmer wetter winters,

hotter drier summers and more frequent extreme weather events.

In adapting to meet these challenges, it is important that sustainable development is

sensitive to the historic environment.

Issues specifically relevant to Whitefriars Conservation Area include:

 The mature trees on the Victoria Embankment and area of planting at Blackfriars

Bridge approach contribute to the biodiversity of the conservation area (see

management of Open Spaces and Trees)

 The junction between the Embankment, New Bridge Street, Blackfriars Bridge and

Queen Victoria Street suffers from traffic related air pollution including high levels

of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates (PM 10). The City of London Air Quality

Strategy 2015-2020 (2015) sets out the current position and the measures required

to ensure predicted improvements in the City’s air quality.

 The Whitefriars Conservation Area falls within the City Flood Risk Area (Policy

CS18) and is at particular risk from surface water/sewer flooding. Flood resistance

and resilience measures will be important in safeguarding the historic assets in this

area.

 In order to minimise the risks of flooding, new development schemes will be

expected to make use of appropriate rainwater attenuation measures such as

the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and green roofs.

The Local Plan policy CS15 provides guidance on sustainable development and

climate change and policy CS18 on flood risk and SuDS. The City has also produced

a Climate Change Adaption Strategy (revised and updated January 2010).

15. Environmental enhancement

The draft City Streets & Spaces SPD (2015) sets out the policies to manage the public

realm, and will update and replace the City Street Scene Manual. This is being

prepared to promote high quality design and set the highest standards for every

element that contributes to our experience of the City’s streets. There are ten

overarching aims that support all interventions in the City’s public realm:

 An increasingly higher standard of design quality;

 Understanding context and character;

 Simpler and less cluttered streets and spaces;

 Better coordination and more consistency;

 Protecting heritage and ensuring continuity;

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

 More sustainable streets and spaces;

 Supporting and encouraging good health, well-being and healthy lifestyles;

 Making an exception for exceptional streets and spaces;

 Better connected and more accessible streets and spaces;

 Releasing the potential of streets and spaces to support commerce, culture

and art.

These principles, along with detailed guidance, and history and evolution of streets

and spaces in the City are set out in detail in the SPD.

A rolling programme of area strategies covers all parts of the City. The strategies set

out the overarching direction for the enhancement of the public realm, seeking to

create a more pleasant and sustainable street environment that encourages

walking and cycling, and enhances the historic character and local distinctiveness.

At present there is no adopted strategy for the Temple & Whitefriars area. The

Riverside Walk Enhancement Strategy, adopted January 2015, identifies completed

enhancement works to the area beneath Blackfriars Bridge and Paul’s Walk. Some

works were undertaken to the area as part of the Thameslink project.

The Thames Strategy SPD was adopted in June 2015 and contains further guidance

on the City’s intentions for the Thames riverside including the Whitefriars conservation

area.

16. Transport

Much work has already been done on reducing motor vehicle traffic in the City,

including in and around Whitefriars:

 The Mayor's congestion charging zone scheme has significantly reduced

motor vehicle traffic in Central London;

 The Mayor's low emission zone scheme has further reduced numbers of the

most-polluting heavy vehicles across London;

 In adopting its Local Plan the City Corporation has refined its highway

hierarchy to further reduce the adverse impacts of motor vehicle traffic,

including on the valued character of the City's conservation areas, and will

continue to reduce the impact of traffic management infrastructure.

Further details about transport proposals, including the City of London Cycle Plan,

and Rail Strategy are available on the website. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

In addition, the Mayor’s North-South cycle superhighway will pass along Blackfriars

Bridge and New Bridge Street. The East-West cycle superhighway will pass along

Victoria Embankment. See www.tfl.org.uk.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

17. Management of open spaces and trees

The City of London Corporation’s Open Space Strategy SPD (2015) details the

existing open spaces of the City, what spaces are to be provided in future, and how

these could be delivered. The City of London Biodiversity Action Plan 2010-2015

(2010) outlines the importance of the City’s urban green spaces, which includes

small public gardens, squares and churchyards; and built structures, which include

trees and manmade structures such as green walls and roofs. In addition, the City

has published a Habitat Action Plan for Urban Green spaces, Churchyards and

Cemeteries, and for Built Structures.

The City of London Corporation's Tree Strategy sets out how trees will be protected

and maintained and how further tree planting will be encouraged. Part 1 of the

Tree Strategy contains policy and guidance on the planting, preservation and

management of trees in the City and was adopted as a SPD in May 2012. Part 2

provides additional detailed guidance and information on the implementation of

part 1. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

Subject to some exemptions, all trees in conservation areas are protected under

section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended). Anyone

proposing to carry out works to a tree in a conservation area must give six weeks’

notice of their intention to do so before works begin. There are no Tree Preservation

Orders in Whitefriars Conservation Area at present.

A new public open space will be created within the river to the west of Blackfriars

Bridge as part of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.

18. Archaeology

The City is the historic centre of London and has a rich history, with monuments and

archaeological remains surviving from all periods. Its historic landscape has shaped

and influenced the modern townscape. There has been almost continuous

occupation of the City from the initial Roman settlement and there is also evidence

of earlier occupation. Physical evidence of the development of the City is

contained in the visible and buried monuments and archaeological remains. The

history of settlement has led to the build-up and development of a very complex,

and in some areas, deep archaeological sequence. Later building development

and basement construction has eroded the archaeological evidence, and in some

areas remains have been lost with no record or an incomplete record on only part

of a site.

Due to the complex layering of remains above and below ground, the entire City is

considered to have archaeological potential unless it can be demonstrated that

archaeological remains have been lost, due to basement construction or other

ground works.

Where developments are proposed which involve new groundworks, a historic

environment assessment, including an assessment of the archaeological potential

and impact of the proposals, will be required as part of the planning application.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD

Where significant remains survive, consideration will be given to amendments to the

proposals to ensure that disturbance to archaeological remains is minimised or

reduced. The Corporation will indicate the potential of a site, its relative importance

and the likely impact to a developer at an early stage, so that appropriate

assessment and design development can be undertaken. Developers should refer to

Planning Advice Note 3: Archaeology in the City of London, and Conservation Areas

in the City of London: A General Introduction to their Character, for further

information. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.

There is high archaeological potential in the Whitefriars Conservation Area,

including:

 Environmental evidence of former Thames foreshore, river wall and

confluence with the river Fleet

 Evidence of subsequent medieval and Victorian land reclamation

 Medieval remains of Whitefriars’ friary buildings and precincts

 Medieval and post medieval remains of Bridewell Palace

19. Enforcement

Breaches of planning control are investigated in accordance with the City of

London Development Management Service Standards. This sets out the manner and

timescales in which breaches will be investigated, and is available on the City of

London Corporation’s website. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

20. Condition of the conservation area

The buildings, open spaces and public realm of Whitefriars Conservation Area are

generally in good condition and maintained to a high standard. The adaption,

upgrading, repair, conservation, or redevelopment of buildings is managed to have

a minimum effect on neighbouring buildings, the highway and the amenity of the

area.

Potential pressures in the Conservation Area have been identified as new

development and utilities replacement works, although these do not threaten its

character. The condition of the Conservation Area is judged to have improved in

recent years, and is expected to further improve in coming years.

Planning applications will be judged against the local, regional and national policies

and guidance identified above, and the loss of buildings and features that

contribute to the character of the area will be resisted accordingly.

There are currently no buildings or structures within the Conservation Area that are

categorised as being at risk, due to deterioration of fabric, lack of occupancy, or

both. Such buildings or structures may be considered appropriate for entry in the

Heritage at Risk Register maintained by Historic England.

Whitefriars CA draft Character Summary & Management Strategy SPD